There’s a lot to see in San Francisco and a lot of ways to see them. Last month, my family and I toured the city in a completely new way with Ride the Ducks. This tour service is located in several major cities and is known for the amphibious vehicles they use. The what?

They call them ‘ducks’. They’re huge vehicles that can function on both land and water. The ‘duck’ history reaches way back but I don’t want to spoil that factoid for you, which is quite interesting in my opinion. The tours run about 1-1/2 hours and are wheelchair accessible. The Ride the Ducks kiosk was a humble hole in the wall, across the street from Burger King. There is no immediate parking so make sure you arrive about 15-20 minutes early to park your car.

We were scheduled for a 1:00pm tour but, unfortunately, so was a huge group of students on a field trip. Since everyone that gets on the bus receives a duck bill-shaped quack-er (there’s really no better term for it), we knew that a couple of hours with 30 quack-happy students would spell H-E-A-D-A-C-H-E. Even as the group waited to take off, there was non-stop quacking. With the help of some very friendly workers at the kiosk, we were moved to the next time slot. That gave us enough time to get a cookie from Ghirardelli Square and get back to take a regular public tour.

It was finally our time to board. Before getting on, we were each handed a quack-er and then asked to pose for a group photo (to purchase later, of course). Our ‘captain’ took off and continued to pass by Fisherman’s Wharf. As we drove along the planned route, he pointed out several landmarks and shared information about each one. He was also a crack-up. He had this subtle sense of humor and contagious laugh – it really seemed like he enjoys his job! He even told us that, when people turn to look at us, we should wave and start quacking at them to get a smile or two. Also, he seemed to have a ‘thing’ against guys wearing skinny jeans 😛

The seats and ride were surprisingly comfortable. As we cruised through town, various classic tunes were played. These would match the area we were driving through (i.e. “Kung-Fu Fighting” in Chinatown, “Lasagna” by Weird Al Yankovic in Little Italy) or just be plain fun. Instead of singing, quacking was encouraged. Next, it was time for us to hit the bay.

It’s soooooo much easier to show you what our tour was like. The following video is little longer than usual (about two minutes) but is totally worth the extra minute!

For me, the coolest thing was getting to see the Giants stadium / AT&T Park from the other side. There was even a game going on and it looked packed! For those that don’t know, many boats dock right along the stadium, hoping to catch a homer that’s batted out of the park and toward the bay. This was the first time I actually saw it for myself.

We stayed around McCovey Cove for a while. At this time, riders were invited to take a seat in the captain’s chair and to steer the boat. Well, at least pretend to steer as the real captain took a photo and made sure we didn’t run into anything. The two tweeners I had with me were hiding so as not to be picked. That meant it was my duty to do the deed. I’m so glad I did! The view was even better up there!

It was time to head back. We had to take some alternate routes due to the ballgame traffic. The captain did really well in getting us back and we arrived at the kiosk only slightly later than expected. That was a VERY good thing as no bathrooms are aboard the ‘duck’.

What fun! We all had a blast and would totally recommend this to visitors or locals. The prices are reasonable but make sure to check the specials and buy tickets online to save. Let me know if you get a chance to go quacking anytime soon!

Oh, and if you see Splash (Ride the Ducks mascot) around the city, snap a photo with him to get a FREE ticket when you buy two.We received four complimentary tickets for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

TerriAnn van Gosliga is the main writer at Cookies & Clogs. Born & raised in the SF Bay Area but loves to travel. She's been married to her best friend for 18 years, used to homeschool her 17-year-old daughter before she started a public high school/college program, and has an accident-prone lab mix dog.